New ranking says the 17 most and least Christian-friendly businesses are ...

RALEIGH, N.C. (Christian Examiner) – An inaugural equality index aimed at ranking the nation's most Christian-friendly businesses has placed Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby at the top of its list, with Bank of America, DirecTV and Apple near the bottom.

Faith Driven Consumer's Faith Equality Index ranked 300 brands and is similar to the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which ranks gay-friendly companies. Faith Driven Consumer released the ranking following four years of research and interaction with companies. It apparently is the only ranking of its kind.

Ranked on a 100-point scale, the top seven faith-friendly companies are:

Chick-fil-A, 63

Hobby Lobby, 62

Interstate Batteries, 61

Tyson Foods, 60

Cracker Barrel, 53

Walmart, 51

Thrivent Financial, 50

"In a marketplace that celebrates diversity, the Faith Equality Index focuses major brands on the newest color in their rainbow, Faith Driven Consumers," said Chris Stone, founder of Faith Driven Consumer. "Like every community, Faith Driven Consumers expect to be welcomed by the companies they do business with and work for."

Claiming to represent 41 million Christian consumers who annually spend $2 trillion, the group indicates there's work left to do.

"[W]e recognize that many brands still have a long way to go in welcoming, embracing, and celebrating Faith Driven Consumers at parity with their other diversity communities, and are diligently working with all brands as they seek to understand and embrace this key constituency," Stone said.

Stone said the brands in the bottom 10 "fall far short of earning the business of Faith Driven Consumers, but also have a significant opportunity to get into the game and improve their positions relative to marketplace competitors."

The entire rankings, available at FaithEqualityIndex.com, also contain the rankings of other groups, including those of the Human Rights Campaign.